February 28, 2011

Celebrating BOYS!!!

I know that you know about the "Celebrate the Boy" celebration going on right now.

Right??

If you don't know about this, you'll love it!

It's a brief pause in the major girly-ness of crafting to focus on our little men and all the things that we can make especially for them! Last year, Dana from MADE, and Rae from Made by Rae decided to shake up the craft blogging world and devote an entire month to boy-related posts! It's the party of the year, imo, and even if you don't have boys, you really don't want to miss it!

This year Dana asked me to contribute a little something, and while I'm no expert in spiders, snails and puppy-dog tails, I really loved coming up with something with something for our macho-munchkins! :o)

And I borrowed two of the cutest little ones I could find to test it out on!

It's like flannel graph on a pillow!

With a sly little pocket in the back to save all the pieces, and mom's sanity. :o)

The play possibilities are practically endless. You'll probably even find yourself nudging them out of the way for "mommy's turn". (Or...maybe that was just me.)

And it's delightfully simple to make!

1: Cut out three felt circles about 18" in diameter, then chop about 6 inches off of one.

2: Fold over the top of your 12" circle and hem. I like to sew two lines because it feels fancy.

3: Lay your 12" on top of a 18".

4: Lay the other 18" on top of that and pin almost all the way around, leaving enough room for your hand to fit through. (If you're using a pillow form, leave a larger opening.)

5: Sew where you've pinned, and turn right side out.

6. Stuff with polyfill or a pillow form.

7. Stitch the opening closed.

Then have fun cutting shapes out of different colors of felt! You can cut out anything your little heart desires of course, but here are a few patterns I've created for the pieces I used. Click to enlarge to actual size, and print away!

Then sit back and enjoy watching it go flying in every direction, being sat upon, and used as a deadly weapon to fight evil. (I'm pleased to say that it holds up remarkably well!)

When I was watching these boys play with it, I couldn't help wishing I had someone to throw things around and fight evil forces in my house. I love boys' unending energy and innocent mischief! I think I would have stolen at least one of them if their mother didn't know where I lived. :O)

"Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,
With misshapen halos and
mischievous grins,
Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.
They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while
Nothing can brighten the world like
their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!"

Anon: The photos are all working for me, you should be able to just click them and it will take you to the full-size version. If you need to, you can email me and I will send the ones you need as attachments. :o)rufflesandstuff (at) hotmail (dot) com

Hopped over here to follow you from Be Different Act Normal. This pillow is on my To Make Now list. My grands will love it. There parents will, too, because it's an awesome car toy. Thank you for such a good tutorial

I'm going to have to whip up one of these for a VERY upcoming birthday party. But I know my girly-girl will be jealous and want a princess version. I know this project was created for all those boys left out of the the girly craft world but please, please make a female template option too. Absolutely Marvelous Project!

I love it! It is so much better than a mr. potato head... and being home-made makes it so much more special and you can create more faces and expressions as you go along, what a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing!

I've been sewing like crazy for my girls and my poor son keeps getting left out so I made him a 9" diameter version of your face pillow. My felt pieces were too small to do any bigger.It was a hit! I think his favourite parts were the tongue and handle-bar moustache.It is so hard to find boy crafts. Thanks!!